Bonnie Tyler, the voice behind the 1983 hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, has died. She was 75 years old.
A statement posted by a representative on the Welsh rock-pop singer’s Facebook page on Thursday morning, July 9, said that Tyler “passed away unexpectedly last night in a hospital in Portugal as a result of an illness for which he was being treated.”
Her death followed an emergency bowel surgery in May in Faro, where Tyler had a home. She was then placed in an induced coma.
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Born Gaynor Hopkins in Neath, Wales, Tyler rose to international fame in the late 1970s with the ballad “It’s a Heartache” and rose to global superstardom in 1983 with “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” This dramatic mini-epic, written and produced by Jim Steinman, spent four weeks at number one on the Hot 100, making Tyler the first and only Welsh-born singer to ever top the chart.
The song, featured on Tyler’s album Faster Than the Speed of Night, earned Tyler Grammy nominations in the categories of Female Pop Vocal Performance and Female Rock Performance, making it one of the defining records of its era. She then burst into another timeless classic, “Holding Out for a Hero,” from the Footloose soundtrack. Tyler’s unique raspy vocal style, developed after early vocal cord surgery, became her signature.
Tyler has released 18 studio albums over a career spanning over 50 years. She represented Great Britain at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Believe in Me”, finishing in 19th place. She was also awarded an MBE in 2023 for her contribution to music after being named in the Queen’s Birthday Honors List.
Tyler will be performing at the Sunshine Festival in Worcester, England this summer, as well as performing in Europe, with a performance booked at Cardiff’s Utilita Arena on December 17th. Her last full show took place on March 19th at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London.
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